Thoughts in the night
by Dis Thrainsdotter
Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can´t sleep. Post the Hobbit but before LotR.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter One

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don´t own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

I can't sleep tonight. I ought to, I have some important things to do tomorrow and I need steady hands to be able to do them properly. But for some reason or other there simply isn't any sleep in me tonight. So I get up from bed after lying still to will myself to sleep, and go into the sitting room where I sit down on the couch before the fire. I fill my pipe and light it; it is Longbottom Leaf from the Shire. I buy three barrels of it every year from the Dwarves who travel between Erebor and the Blue Mountains, and it is true that it's the best pipe weed from the South farthing.

I sit and smoke in peace when I remember Bilbo Baggins. A laugh fills my heart when I think about the party in his hole, Bag End; he did look somewhat puzzled when he saw us on the doorstep. Gandalf had given us the advice to come to Bag End in groups so Balin and Dwalin had gone first followed by Fili and Kili. Then Dori, Nori, Ori, Óin and I had gone followed by Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thórin Oakenshield and Gandalf. By the time they came Bilbo was so flustered he pulled the door open and they all fell inside. I couldn't help laughing when I saw Thórin flat on the mat with the others on top of him and the angered glances he gave me didn't make it easier to stop laughing. But I also understood him, Bombur who wasn't exactly slim even then and hasn't grown slimmer since must have winded him. Gandalf stood on the porch and laughed. The party was good though, even if it was given on short notice. We spoke about Dragons, Orcs and other such things; we sung a song about how Smaug had taken our home (not that I had ever seen it but mother and father always spoke about it) and how we were going to take it back.

And so my thoughts drift to the Dragon and how he came to Erebor. Mother and father used to speak about it when I grew up, how splendid our Halls had been before the Dragon came. Balin used to mention it from time to time; he had been outside the Mountain with Thórin, Frerin, Dis and the others when Smaug came which was most fortunate for all of them. "An adventurous Lad in those days, always out and about" Thórin said about himself and it was indeed fortunate that he had been safe that day. According to what mother said everything was turned upside down; they simply grabbed the tools, clothes and food they could in a hurry and went out through the escape exits while listening to the deafening roars of the Dragon. Many Dwarves were slain and eaten, and many Men as well. So the town of Dale was turned into ruins and our Mountain taken and we became homeless.

It must have been hard on Thrór, our Father, and Thráin even though they were able to rescue a good number of our Folk, teasing the Dragon and naming him "Lazy Lizard" and other such names. Balin told us that their beards had been singed when they came, a sign of how close to the Dragon they had been. Many were able to go to Iron Hills and our other dwellings, which was good for them and also proof of the wisdom in not putting all eggs in one basket. Thrór had to deal with haughty Men and Elves, and at about 230 it isn't easy to be wandering like we had to do.

I was seven the year that blasted Azog murdered our Father and I still remember the wailing and weeping of our people. The Dunlendings were furious, they offered to execute the Man whose comments had caused Thrór to go to Khazad-Dûm in the first place saying that he was the ultimate cause of the murder and had to be treated accordingly, but Thráin had declined the offer saying that it wouldn't make his father return to us and finally they fined the Man, he had to pay a ware gild for our father and he did. The Man was white and trembled when he looked at Thráin, he hadn't meant it to come to this and he was as angered as the others. Orcs in our ancient dwellings, how horrible. They had no right to be there and certainly no right to claim it as theirs.

Poor Nar, he shook with anger when he spoke about it, hadn't his hair and beard been white already they would have become and Thráin sat speechless for a week. But then he rose and said that it couldn't be born and sent messengers to all the places where our Folk lived, telling them what had happened and summoning the Host to Dunland. Father was one of them and his short stubble made him look strange. We had all torn our beards at the tidings and the Men who had beards had done so as well. But if they indeed grieved or if it was to show sympathy with us I am still not sure of. They did help us set up a camp for the Host, which was augmented by children of other Fathers who were filled with wrath when they heard the tidings. Father was so angry at the time and mother was no less angered, hadn't she had us to take care of she would have been one of the warriors. Instead she was one of those who repaired the mail the warriors wore.

Those were days filled with horror, particularly during the War, but still we were able to find time to play and train with our axes. Mother was always worried for father that he would be taken from us, but fortunately he wasn't even though a good many were. The battles were horrible. Not to mention meeting the Dwarves, Elves and Men rescued from the Orcdens. They looked terrible, worn and famished, and the Orcs had tormented a number of them. They didn't tell us younglings about what had happened to them, saying that they would reward our parents badly by giving us nightmares, but enough filtered through to give us nightmares in any case. Sometimes we were able to sneak in among the grownups and listen to their tales, they would speak of cutting people loose from instruments of torture, cutting chains from then that kept them hanging on walls and other such things. Also they sometimes spoke about what they did with the Orcs when they found them. They weren't given any mercy and they didn't deserve any.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Two

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

I envied my elder cousins and kinsmen who would meet the Orcs head-on, but when I told them so they said that they didn't doubt that there would be enough enemies for me when I became Battle ready. "In the meanwhile, the work you do together with your mother is most important to us" they said but I wasn't convinced about that. I aided her when she repaired the mail our warriors wore and to me it seemed as if it was of little worth. Now I understand what they meant, it takes a good deal of work to repair a chain mail practically ripped apart and those who do that work are as valuable to a host as any warrior. But then I didn't see it like that. I smile when I think about how eager I was to become Battle ready, and my brother was as eager as I was.

Still, nothing could have prepared me for the last battle. Our host had to fight an uphill battle, which is hard even at the best of times, but now we were facing Orcs who had nothing to loose and such an enemy is the hardest to face. The vanguard was pushed into a patch of forest and was able to hold it but many were lost. Frerin son of Thráin fell there, and my uncle Fundin, and many others. But finally the company from Iron Hills came and Náin son of Grór commanded it. I heard someone say that Grór had wanted to fight the murderer of his brother but they had been able to persuade him to remain at Iron Hills. It was when they came that we were able to win the battle but it came at a cost. Azog killed Náin as they fought each other before the Gates of Khazad-Dûm but Náins Company slew Azogs bodyguards and the rest of the host slew the remaining Orcs. Those few who escaped ran south through the valley. As Azog saw this he tried to get inside the Gates but Dáin Ironfoot went after him, slew him on the threshold and cut his head off. He was 32 when he did it, a stripling as we recon it so it was a great feat. But those who saw him said that he was grey in the face, as if he had felt great fear. All of us who could gathered to see when Nar put the bag of money that Azog had thrown at him into Azogs mouth and his head was put on a pole. When I saw it there I was most satisfied but I was also most saddened.

The most grievous thing was that we had to burn the fallen, but as someone said, we either burned them or left them to be eaten by birds and beasts that feed on carrion. "There are many Orcs here, we needn't feed them with our kinsmen" that person said so we burned our fallen on pyres. The memory of the pyres is still haunting me, the smell of their burning bodies and the sight of the flames but there was no other way. But whenever one of us says proudly about one of his (or her) sires "he was a Burned Dwarf" no more needs to be said.

When we left the valley each one of us carried a heavy burden of arms and mail taken from the dead so that the Orcs wouldn't be able to get them. Balin carried his father's axes and mail as part of his burden and Thórin those who had been his brothers. We went back to Dunland for a while but then we went to the Blue Mountains and made a home there. It wasn't Erebor, as mother and father said, but it was a good place and it was our own. We traded a bit and thus weren't so badly off and it felt good to journey from time to time with my father, mother and brother. It was mostly things made of Iron we traded; tools, knives, spades and such things but it was a decent living after all "and anything is better than begging bread at proud doors" Thráin said at times.

But suddenly disaster struck again. For some time Thráin had been pining and even if we didn't know why we all knew that something wasn't entirely right. Suddenly he rose and told a group of us, Balin among them, to come with him. We were away from home at the time, doing a bit of trade with the Elves in Lindon and when we came back they were already long gone. "Father told me to keep things for him here until he returns" Thórin told us "but I am worried for him. He seemed fey and reminded me of the vengeance my grandfather had bequeathed to me. I hope he isn't planning anything rash, like going back to Khazad-Dûm."

"I don't think so" father said, but he still looked worried and he didn't tell us what he suspected. We didn't hear anything about them for some time but when we did it was indeed grievous tidings. They had had to fight Orcs and other servants of the Necromancer but finally they had made it to Mirkwood. Then they had been forced to take shelter from a downpour under the trees in the eaves of the forest and the following day Thráin was missing from the camp. They had looked for him for many days until they had been forced to return to us. "It seems to me that I have to take the position of Durin´s Heir" Thórin said "at least until my father returns. But how he will return, if ever, I don't knowand I know nothing about what forced him to make this journey in the first place. Hopefully we will find out soon." But we didn't find out until many years later.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Three

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

I wonder, now that I think back about it, if Thórin didn´t from the moment he heard about it suspect that something horrible was at work in the matter. I know father did, "I have fought alongside Thráin in many battles" he said "and I know that he would have fought anyone trying to attack him. I wonder what could have happened" and to that I could give no answer, neither could Balin or any of the other of Thráins companions.

Still, life continued as it always has done. It was during the following years that I came to meet a Dwarf woman named Nei. I first saw her when she, her father and mother, and her brothers and sister came to live with us in our Halls in the Blue Mountains. They had long been wandering but now that they had heard about the Halls of Thórin they asked leave to dwell there. "I do give my leave, and gladly" Thórin answered, "you are all most welcome" and we made a home for them. During those days I helped them shaping the chambers and after a while it became quite natural that Nei and I worked together. We also journeyed together, trading things that our families had made and it was during these journeys that I realised that I had found my love. When she told me that she loved me as well I was most happy.

When I finally asked for her hand in marriage, her mother told me that she had thought that it would happen eventually. "You worked so well together," Mundin said, and when I asked when we had done that mother told me that we had worked together in the war. "Now I remember," I said, "when we were making all those rings for the mail of our warriors". Mother smiled when she saw my confused appearance and both father and Lîm looked happy. Óin, my brother, was by then already married and had two children so he was pleased to see that I had also found love. Our wedding was a happy one and when we retired to our home both Nei and I felt such joy that we hadn't done before.

That first month together passed in a haze, all I remember is that we took every opportunity to have each other. When our first son, Gimli, was born I was as nervous as any becoming father could ever be. A group of Men had come to trade with us and their healer was among them. Mundin had asked the healer, named Úrwen to help with the birth and when she saw me she said "this must be the first child, I see it on the father. When the first child is born you could almost believe the father to be giving birth as well" and everyone laughed, but it was a gentle laugh filled with knowledge. Their chief said to me "I have been through that as well, it is always hardest the first time" and held a comforting hand on my shoulder. I felt most happy when I heard that we had become the parents of a fine lad, and when I saw him for the first time I couldn't contain my joy. We named him Gimli, as we could see a flame in his eyes, and I have always been happy to have him with me.

At the naming ceremony Thórin said to me that he was happy for our sake, "I think we can expect great things from him," he told me. In the following years we had two more sons and two daughters. During the years when we still hadsmall children Nei couldn't go with me, but when Lît, our youngest, reached the age of ten she could again go with me and take the children with her. At first we made only short journeys but fairly soon we went all over Eriador. We came fairly often to Bree and were met by the people there with kindness, as all people who come to their town. The Prancing Pony in Bree is a good Inn and has been owned by the family of Butterbur longer than anyone cares to remember.

One day when we had traded things in the market of Bree and came to the Inn for the night, the Innkeeper asked us to come with him. We went to his chambers and he handed us an axe. "One of my customers gave me this yesterday, he said that he had been going along the outskirts of Mirkwood when he and his party had been forced to seek shelter in the forest. They found it in a clearing and it was covered in Orcblood. They cleaned it and brought it with them. It is clearly a Dwarf axe so I was asked to give it to the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains when you came the next time. Do you know to whom it belongs?"

"Covered in Orcblood, you say?" I asked and he nodded. I did remember the axe, I had seen the owner of it holding it often enough. "This is the axe of Thráin, our missing Father" I said "I will bring it with me to Thórin". He knew as well as anyone else that Thráin was missing.

"At least you know now that he fought with them, those bleaming Orcs," he said and I nodded.

When we came back to our Halls I gave it to Thórin who looked at it and said, "I don't know whether I should feel happy or worried. At least I know that he fought those creatures who took him but where they took him is still not known." That was true and it also worried father when I told him about it. To know that Thráin had indeed been able to fight whoever had attacked him was still heartening so we thought that he might indeed be still living. "He is a Dwarf with a hard neck if ever there was one" father said, "I don't think that he would give in to anyone, not even to the Dark Lord himself" and all of us agreed with him.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Four

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

Rating: M

"What is it, my love?" Nei´s voice cuts through my thoughts, "I woke up and saw that you weren't in bed".

"It's all right" I say "there doesn't seem to be any sleep in me tonight."

"What were you thinking about when you smiled?" she asked and I answered

"How lucky I am to have you as my wife and to have our children". She nods and then said children come, looking a bit drowsy. "Is anything amiss?" Gimli asks and I tell them that all is well. "I had meant to ask you something" Gimli continues "I saw you speaking with a Man during the day and he seemed quite insistent on something".

"He was" I answer and send an arm ring around "this was meant for my father but he insisted that I should receive it because his forefather would haunt him otherwise". When I receive it again I can see why the Man had been so insistent. On the arm ring there is a text in westron saying, "There is no way that I could thank you enough for rescuing me and my people. This is but a small token of my gratitude" and now I see the images on it. They seem to tell a story of how a group of Men had been taken captive by Orcs and forced to work for them and then rescued by a Dwarf host. The last picture showed a passage, a Man leaning on a Dwarf and barely able to walk and then I recognise the Dwarf, it's my father and then the memory floods back to me. "I remember this Man" I say astonished "we rescued him and his people from an Orcden about two years before the last battle. He was barely skin and bones when he came out and his people was also so worn and tired. The healers worried for them, that they might die, but they recovered."

"I remember them also" Nei adds "when I gave them food and drink they almost wept, they said that no one had treated them kindly for a long time. Small wonder that his descendant was so insistent" she finishes.

The children look at us and we tell them about the war, they have heard the tales often enough but this time we speak about how we searched for Azog in all the Orcdens, finding these other people instead. When we found them we told them who we were because they would have tried to attack us otherwise, as they at first suspected us to be Orcs whom they were, and rightly, frightened of. Even the Elves were most grateful when we took them out of these horrible places. Finally the children say to us that they would fall of their couches if they stayed any longer and they and Nei go back to bed.

So I sit and think about father. He passed away peacefully one morning having reached the age of 252 years. He asked my brother and me to continue with our crafts and to go back to Erebor if ever we could. We interred him in a stone tomb deep inside the Blue Mountains, beside the tomb where we had interred our mother three years earlier. They had both spoken with longing about Erebor, not that they did it all that often but sometimes when the sadness became too much for them they would sing songs of the Lonely Mountain and the home that we once had. Even though our Halls were good, we always knew that they weren't our true home.

I started to think about our old Halls and once I thought I heard Thórins voice as he smote his hammer on an axe in the smithy, stating quite angrily that he wished that the piece of Iron that he hammered was Smaug. We could see it quite well on him those twenty years before we set out, that he was pondering the matter. But how were we to smite him and get our vengeance on him for all the Dwarves and Men that he had killed and eaten? That was the problem, Dragons aren't so easily slain and a good many of the Dragon slayers have been killed themselves by the Dragons falling on them or their fires and fumes. Still, it had to be done if we were to get our Mountain back. It was as we were still pondering these matters that Thórin Oakenshield made a journey that would change everything for us and finally result in the return of our people to Erebor. On his way back he came to Bree and there he met Gandalf. He told us later that the Wizards name had come to his thoughts often, as if he was bidden by someone to seek Gandalf, and Gandalf had felt the same thing. He had spoken kindly of our dwellings and Thórin said to us that when Gandalf came he was to be admitted immediately and brought to the council chamber.

When Gandalf came he had tidings with him and gave us the advice that we should bring a Hobbit with us. Thórin looked as if he didn't quite know what to make of it but finally he took the advice given and we went to the Shire. We made all preparations to be ready to go the day after our meeting with the Hobbit. One day before Gandalf went to see him in his hole, Bag End, and then we were sent to the place in groups. Finally we had all arrived at the home of Bilbo Baggins and the party that day was most splendid, even if it was given with little notice. We were finally able to persuade the Hobbit into coming with us and he did come to the Green Dragon Inn the following day. We all got on our ponies, Gandalf had his horse, and we started our journey to take back what was ours from Smaug.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Five

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

Rating: M.

When I think about Bilbo Baggins I almost laugh, he did all he could to seam prowsy but he couldn't hide the fact that he was eager to go on the journey with us. He listened to the tales we told him and the songs we sung, as well as the tales and songs of others that we met.

We stayed at Inns along the road as long as there were any to be had, but then we made camp in the forest along the East road. We set watches as the road was by no means safe, there were robbers and other threats around and we didn't want to get waylaid. At the end of a rainy day we came to an old bridge and crossed it. Bilbo grumbled a bit about the rain getting into our food bags and clothes bags, and I think we were a bit angered by it as well.

We stopped and wondered where we should go, it was then we noticed that Gandalf was missing but when he had left and where he had gone to we didn't know. Finally we decided to make camp where we were so we moved to a clump of trees so as to be out of the rain, which we were but the dripping from the boughs was annoying. It didn't help matters when a pony took fright at nothing and bolted straight into the river, Fili and Kili got the pony back to the shore but by the time they had done it they were nearly drowned and the food on the pony was washed away. To add insult to injury, neither Óin nor I was able to light a fire.

We were arguing about it and finally started to fight when Balin, always the lookout man, told us that he saw a fire. We looked at it and discussed it for some time until Thórin told Bilbo to go and see what it was. Bilbo went to the fire but didn't look at all happy about the instructions he had been given. He later told us that he could hoot like an owl as much as he could fly, which he couldn't. After a while we heard strange noises coming from the fire and as we had neither seen Bilbo come back nor heard any owl hoots, we started to make for the fire to see what was going on. We were going one by one with Balin as the first and so it was that Trolls who put us in their smelly sacs took us. Some of us were able to fight them but it didn't save them from being put in those sacs and placed near the fire. Finally Thórin came, expecting mischief and Bilbo told him that Trolls who were waiting for him with sacs had taken us. I think Bilbo tried to warn us but didn't have the time to cry out. Thórin and Bilbo fought with them but Thórin was also put in a sac and I didn't know where Bilbo went.

Then the Trolls sat down and discussed how to cook us, an altogether horrible thing to listen to. Added to that the fact that I could hardly breathe in the sac and the whole situation looked most dreadful. Fortunately for us Gandalf had returned and kept the Trolls arguing until the Sun rose and turned the Trolls to stone. To hear Gandalf´s voice as he told Bilbo about what he had done, and then to be released from the sac was such a relief. All of us demanded an explanation from Bilbo who told us that the Trolls caught him and that the strange noises we heard was the Trolls fighting and calling each other names, fully applicable according to Bilbo.

After some discussions about fire and food we found the footprints of the Trolls leading to a cave, which Gandalf opened with the key that Bilbo had found and then we entered. The smell inside the cave was horrible but we found food and drink there, and also all sorts of plunder. We also found clothes and weapons; they weren't Troll size so their victims must have worn them. Two of the swords caught our eyes, with their jewelled hilts and sheaths, so Gandalf took them and looked at them saying that we would learn more about them in better light as there was runes on them. He took one sword and Thórin took the other, and Bilbo took a dagger, which looked like a short sword on him. We took food and drink, and made breakfast by the embers of the fire and after sleeping we buried the gold coins we found in the cave, replenished our supplies and went on our way.

As we went on Gandalf told us that he had been scouting the road when he met some friends from Rivendell. They had told him about the Trolls and as he had felt he was needed with us he had gone back, but before he had done so he had given a message to them so they could tell Elrond that we were coming to him. He also told us to be more careful next time and we didn't sing or tell tales for some days.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Six

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

Rating: M

Our journey to the Ford was uneventful but still it felt like danger was coming closer. When we crossed the swift flowing river Bilbo looked at the mountains and asked if that was our goal. Balin told him that he was looking at the Misty Mountains, that we needed to get through the mountain chain somehow and that even when we came to the other side it would still be a long way to go before we had come to the Mountain "where Smaug lies on Our treasure".

Gandalf was very careful to make sure that we didn't stray from the path, as we would be done for if we did. We were also told that we were expected in the Last Homely House, which sounded encouraging, but we still needed to find it and that wasn't easy. There were no hills to obstruct our view but we still couldn't see any house. It was then we started to find valleys that lay below us. After a long day of looking and searching Gandalf finally called out that he had found it. There was a series of steps and as we went down it the air started to feel warmer. All of a sudden I had the rather uncomfortable feeling that I was being watched, as indeed I was. It wasn't long until I saw a group of Elves sitting in the trees and singing. After they had sung one song they went on with another and finally one of them greeted us. Thórin thanked him gruffly but Gandalf was among them and talked with them.

They asked us whether we would like to stay and sing with them, or go on to have supper. Bilbo looked as if he would like to stay but the rest of us were far more interested in supper than in singing. So the Elves took us to a bridge, which we crossed one by one. The Elves had lights and were singing quite merrily, which didn't stop them from calling out to us. They told Thórin that he shouldn't dip his beard in the foam, as it was long enough without watering. It didn't exactly please him but at the moment he had to concentrate on getting the pony across and couldn't answer. They also told us that Bilbo was still not slim enough to get through keyholes yet. Gandalf who was crossing last told the Elves that valleys have ears and some Elves over merry tongues, which of course didn't stop them. But then we were on the doorstep to the Last Homely House and found the doors wide open, and Lord Elrond welcomed us to his house. The supper that night was most delicious and the guestrooms where we slept felt so secure that I slept better than I had done since the matter with the Trolls.

If we had felt sad to tear Bilbo from his hearts desire, which was to gather songs and tales we didn't feel that so long. We stayed in Rivendell more than two weeks and found it hard to leave. We told the Elves about the Trolls and the end they had received from Gandalf, and they said that it was good they had been turned to stone. Bilbo said with a shudder that he had overheard them while they spoke with each other, and one of the Trolls had told the others that they had eaten a village and a half between them, and the Elves said that they didn't doubt it as the Trolls had waylaid many.

Elrond finally looked at the swords that Thórin and Gandalf had taken and told them that the swords were made by the smiths in Gondolin. Thórin´s sword had the name Orcrist, Goblincleaver, and it's a famous blade. The name of Gandalf´s sword is Glamdring, Foehammer, and it used to be the sword of the King of Gondolin. When we heard about it we were surprised, we had found blades used by the Noldor as they fought the servants of Morgoth and Thórin asked how the Trolls had gotten hold of them. Lord Elrond thought that they must have plundered other plunderers, which sounded quite probable. He also looked at the map that Thórin had been given by Gandalf that had been drawn by his father and grandfather and he saw that there were moon letters on it. The text said that we would find keyhole on the door on Durin´s day, as the setting sun on that day would show us where it was. Then we went to the river and saw the Elves sing and dance, as it was Midsummer's Eve. We left Rivendell on Midsummer's Day with the Elves wishing us a happy journey, feeling confidant that we would shortly come to our Mountain and that we would get the Dragon quite soon. Little did we know of what lay in store for us.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Seven

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

As much as I would like to say that I trusted Bilbo Baggins all the time I have to tell the truth even to myself, and the truth is that I didn't trust him during most of the journey. But on the other hand I wasn't sure that we would be able to make the journey and get our home back in the first place. My wide Nei, Thórin´s sister Dis and the other women doubted that it would be possible to do it even though Dis was willing to allow her sons, Fili and Kili to go with us and she told her brother that he had better take care of them or she would kill him. I didn't allow my own son, Gimli, to go with us even though he pleaded with both Thórin Oakenshield and Gandalf to be allowed to go with us. He was no more than 62 years old and thought himself ready for anything but I didn't agree with him, much to his anger. I was however able to convince my son to remain in our home in the Blue Mountains and it was with relief I waved goodbye to him as we left.

One thing that was on my mind while we went into the mountains was what Gandalf had said in Bilbo´s house. He said that he had found our King, Thráin II, in the dungeons of the Necromancer and it had been a shock, particularly for Balin to hear it. During the days that followed, I sometimes saw tears in Balin´s eyes and on one occasion he said while Bilbo slept "I should have searched longer, maybe I would have found him". But Thórin told him that he shouldn't accuse himself for what had happened, had he gone any further chances would have been that he would have been taken prisoner himself and either forced to watch as Thráin was tormented or tormented himself while Thráin was forced to watch, and that would have been worse. But I could see that it didn't take away the feeling of guilt from Balin and finally Thórin told him that he was blameless and that not even Thráin would have accused him of anything. "You did seek for my father, and almost was taken prisoner by the Orcs if I remember what you said then rightly" Thórin told him "there was nothing you could have done".

The most hair-raising part of it came when a thunderstorm forced all of us into a cave. Fili and Kili had checked it before they told us about it and when we came there Gandalf also checked it carefully. He found it to be satisfactory but didn't allow any fire in there. My brother and I thought that it could be useful with a fire but Gandalf didn't agree with us, and now that I think back on it. I would have to agree with him. Mahal knows what would have happened if we had lit a fire in what turned out to be the Goblins Front Porch, no doubt we would all have been caught and that would have been horrible. It became horrible enough as it did, with all of us except Gandalf taken captive by the Goblins and forced to go into the mountain. I have nightmares at times about the passages of the Goblins, their singing and their whips on our backs. I managed to bite back the yelps most of the time but others were jammering and bleating as we came into the cavern.

When they tied our hands behind our backs, linked us in a line and forced us across the floor over to the Great Goblin I thought I heard Thórin saying that if the Goblin chief recognised him we would all be in trouble, but I could see on the slump of his shoulders that he didn't have much hope that we weren't recognised by them, he in particular. And so it was, he didn't give his father's name when he named himself as Thórin the Dwarf but their chief still named him with his surname and told him that he knew too much about us. I guess we all held our breath when Thórin gave an explanation as to what we were doing, he told us later that he hadn't had the faintest idea what to say when the truth wasn't accepted, but when one of them showed Thórin´s sword we all gasped. The Orcs were clearly displeased to see it, and if we had been hated before we were even more hated by them when they realised what the sword was.

I thought that I would never see my wife or my children ever again when the fire and torches went out, the Goblin chief was killed and a voice told us to follow it. Running for what felt like ages, stumbling on snags in the floor and jerked by the people before or after me doing it we stopped and found, much to our relief that Gandalf had rescued us. Not that he had much time to explain things but we did get a bit of rest as the chains were cut of us and what a relief it was. I honestly had never felt so afraid as I did when we ran through the passages, slightly lit by the staff Gandalf held so we could see where we were going. Fighting the Goblins wasn't easy, particularly when we had to fight them in the dark but we were able to get out and find a place where we could rest. It was when we had caught our breaths that we realised that we were one man short, the Burglar was missing. While we were discussing what to do, Balin didn't take part in that discussion as he was on watch duty, Bilbo returned to us. He had been lying unconscious for a while and found the way out only after having had a riddle competition with a most horrible creature. The most amazing thing was that he was able to sneak up on us without even Balin noticing that he was there, and no one had ever been able to do that before. While I listened to Bilbo telling his tale of how he had been able to get out of that horrible place. I suddenly realised that there was more to him than I had previously thought.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Eight

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

The journey from the glade where we rested to Beorn´s house is one that I will always remember in a mixture of relief and fear. We had to get away from the Orcs before they came out of their caves in order to hunt us and we had to get off the mountains. When we went down in a landslide with stones and rocks around us, all huddled into a tight group, it felt quite frightening but fortunately we came to the forest and were rescued by the trees. But the most horrible part was the meeting with the Wargs in a glade and the Orcs encircling us with fire. We would have been burned alive but the Eagles of the Misty Mountains rescued us and took us to the High Shelf, as it was called, and gave us food and fuel.

The following morning we were flown to a place Gandalf called The Carrock and it was a strange place with stairs hewn into the rock. Gandalf told us about someone named Beorn who would be able to aid us if we didn't anger him and that sounded good, but he also said that he is easily angered and that was more worrying. Bilbo thought that he was a hunter when Gandalf described him as a skin changer, but then Gandalf told us that he is a Man who sometimes is a Bear. We came to a place near his house and Gandalf told us to wait there until he called or whistled, and then to come in pairs every five minutes. He then went away with Bilbo and we followed them with our eyes. There was many bees about and I had never seen such large bees anywhere, neither had anyone else of us.

Thórin divided us into pairs and told Bombur to come as the last, Bombur was quite angered at that but when he was told that Gandalf had also said that it would be best if he were the last he relented. It didn't take all that long until Gandalf whistled and Thórin and Dori left in order to go to them. When Óin and I came to the house, Gandalf had told a part of the story about our meeting with the Orcs and the rest of the story was told with the interruptions of the rest of us until we were all gathered on Beorn´s porch. He offered us a supper for the tale and we were most grateful for it. We were also given beds for the night and I could sleep peacefully there, the first time I had done that since we left the Last Homely House.

The following day we didn't do much, mostly we spoke about what he had been through and our plans when we had gotten the treasure but also the things that Beorn and Gandalf had told us. We sat at the supper table when Gandalf returned to us after having been away all day. He told us, after having had a bite and a smoke, that he had been following Bear tracks leading to the glade where we had had the meeting with the Wargs and Orcs. Bilbo spoke in fright, and I did feel some fear as well but Gandalf told Bilbo to go to bed, and he did while we sang about different things.

To the surprise of all of us a very happy Beorn who had breakfast with us and told us funny stories so we were roaring with laughter waked us. It didn't take so long for us to know why he was laughing because he told us about it. He had gone to the glade and seen the burned stumps that the trees we had been sitting in had become, also he had caught a Warg and an Orc and questioned them. They had told him about the hunt for us and this way the story that Gandalf had told him had been proven. We did receive aid from him and also advice, as he now knew where we were going. He also told us that the best route through Mirkwood would be a little known path to the north of Beorn´s house, the Forest Road that we had planned to go on was used by Orcs he said and we had no intention of meeting them for a while.

He also lended us ponies so we could get to the path quicker, Gandalf was lended a horse, and we were told to send them back when we reached the Forest gate. We were also told not to leave the path and not to get into the Dark Stream. "The water carries drowsiness and forgetfulness," Beorn said, and that didn't sound pleasant in the least. But with the aid of Gandalf we were able to get to the path without being attacked by Orcs.

Gandalf had told us before we had gone to Beorn´s house that he would leave us soon in order to attend so some pressing matters. Now he repeated that and when we looked sad he reminded us that he sent Bilbo with us. It did feel hard to see both the ponies and Gandalf leave us on the edge of Mirkwood; but we had to cross it in order to get to the Mountain and so we entered it, the last obstacle before the Long Marshes and the last lap to our home or so it felt. As we found out, the road was a bit longer than that.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Nine

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

Sometimes I have nightmares about our journey through Mirkwood. I don't know what it is that I dislike the most about the forest, the darkness, the sounds or all the eyes watching. It is very dark in the forest, particularly at night when it becomes pitch black. The sounds of creatures moving about don't soothe at all, and the eyes are most unnerving. But if I have to pick one thing that is particularly frightening, then it must be the large spider webs along the path. Never crossing it thanks goodness, but worrying none the less. We wondered what kind of Spiders could weave such large webs and that was one of the things we found out. They are very large and most horrible, their venom makes even a large and strong Elf feel sick, and they attack anything they can get their claws on.

If Bombur hadn't fallen into the water of the Dark River, we wouldn't have left the path. We had been warned by Beorn neither to drink the water nor to bathe in it so we were happy to find a boat on the other bank. To be precise Bilbo Baggins found it, but Fili threw a rope with a hook in the end of it and got it over. We used two ropes in order to get across the river, Bombur and Dwalin being the last to cross and Bombur was leaving the boat when a stag knocked him into the water. We got him out of it as soon as possible but he was fast asleep when he got to the shore and we couldn't wake him. In fact, he didn't wake up until several days had gone and we were out of food and water.

It was because we were hungry we left the path, something both Beorn and Gandalf had told us not to, and ended up in all sorts of problems. Thrice we came to Elven gatherings, only wishing to beg for some food and drink but the Elves thought we were attacking them. At the last gathering all of us were caught by Spiders save Thórin and Bilbo, and Bilbo rescued us from a tree that the Spiders had put us in, wrapped in the bundles they use in order to store food. Now I know what flies and other insects feel like when they are hanging in such bundles. It isn't nice at all.

Getting away from the Spiders was one thing and we were able to do it, thanks to Bilbo who kept the Spiders busy while we left the area, getting out of the forest was another thing. All of us were ill, sick and weary; the effects of the poison as I was told later, we didn't know where the path lay and last but not least, we had no idea where Thórin was. It took quite a while before we found out and it still makes me angry at times that the King knew it all along but didn't tell us. Bilbo, may the hair on his feet never fall out, found him and told the rest of us.

Finally we were able to escape from the dungeons and get out of the Castle unseen, but it was a close shave as the Men put it. The Elves whose job it was to throw out the empty barrels noticed that some of them were heavier than the others and accused the Butler, Galion, of putting full barrels among the empty ones. But they threw out the barrels indicated by the Butler and we got away from them. The second time we were almost caught was when the Raft elves noticed that some of the barrels lay deeper in the water than the others. Fortunately for us they didn't have the time to open them or heaven knows what would have happened. As it was it was an uncomfortable ride, and I was black and blue all over when Bilbo and Thórin carried me out of the barrel. We had made it to Laketown and it was a relief to see the stars again.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Ten

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

The people of Laketown received us in an astonishing manner and all of us were inside the city within a couple of hours. We had been looking at the town while Thórin, Fili, Kili and Bilbo had gone there in order to get aid for all of us. The rest of us lay on the ground, looking at the houses that had been built on a wooden platform anchored in the ground by poles. It was the largest dwelling that we had seen since leaving Rivendell and to us it looked very fine. Admittedly we had passed through the area where the people of Mirkwood live but as we had been blindfolded at the time we didn't see it.

Suddenly we heard people playing instruments and singing, snatches of songs could be heard across the water and I am sure there must have been a great din in Laketown. Soon afterwards a group of people came out to us, politely inviting us into the city, which we all agreed to do. They showed us the way to the Bridge that connected the city to the shore and when we came to the large square it seemed to us as if the better part of the population could be found there. They gave us food and drink, a healer treated the bruises we had received and also the old whip marks left by the Orcwhips and a house was given to us to live in during our stay. The only one who truly needed care was Bilbo, he had caught a head cold and the healer gave him the medicines he needed.

We were quite angry at the Wood elves, so we told the young healer what had happened to us. Needless to say she was very angry when she heard our tales and the Raft elves received cold greetings from her. She even offered to go with us to the Mountain but Thórin told her to stay but come quickly if he sent for her, and the young woman promised to do that. Apart from board and lodging, we also received clothes in our proper colours and supplies so we could continue our journey to Erebor.

The Master of Laketown was very happy to see us leave, as far as I understood it all work came to a stand-still while everyone gathered at the house we stayed in. Some of the songs they sung made us feel uneasy but they were clearly inspired by the Master who had his thoughts on trade and the gold it would give the town. As we left the young healer waved to us on the boats and we felt happy to be so close to our home. That is, all save Bilbo.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Eleven

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

During the journey on the Long Lake and up the Running River we were divided into smaller groups. One group consisted of Thórin, Fili, Kili and Bilbo. My brother, my cousins Balin and Dwalin, and I formed the second; Dori, Nori and Ori was the third; and the fourth was made up by Bifur, Bofur and Bombur. We felt calm because we could see the other groups and the boats were close while still far enough to have good winds. I had plenty of time to consider the events in Mirkwood, and when I did I remembered those Elves who had been kind to me.

Not all Elves in the group that brought us to the King's Halls had been eager to go as fast as possible, their captain had shouted to them that the King had ordered haste but they found ways to slow the pace down bit by bit and only going quickly when the order was shouted. I could hear the closest Elves grumble that they weren't under threat and that the King could wait a moment.

As we faced the Elvenking the Main Healer stood there also and it was when I sat on the deck of the ship, considering all that had happened, that I realised that she had compared us frequently with "the Dwarf brought in yesterday" and tried to calm the King down a bit. But we had been too tired to notice it that evening and the Spider poison made our heads spin so we didn't speak politely when we answered. When I had been thrown into my dungeon it wasn't log until the Main Healer of Mirkwood arrived there, she examined me and treated the Spider poisoning so I could eat and drink a little. For a few days she would come daily to make sure that I received medicine and she spoke with me about the area, about the threat from Dol Guldur and I agreed with her that it wasn't a nice place.

During the later days of our stay I had made friends with a couple of the guards. As far as I understood it their grandfather had been slain in battle, they had just come of age and needed someone to speak with about matters they couldn't discuss with their parents. As I was in no hurry we could spend time talking with each other about these things and their problems were so similar to those my children faced. They wanted to prove their worth and valour, they felt that everyone around them still treated them as children and they resented that. When we finally escaped I was relieved to know that they hadn't been on guard that night. All I could do when we left was to hope that I had been able to make them stay at home, I could understand their willingness to fight but I was sure that there would be fights enough when they had become older.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Twelve

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

When we arrived at the meeting place the Men who brought the ponies overland were waiting for us. We helped the sailors unload the supplies, which took the better part of the day, but the Men were unwilling to wait until morning before they returned to their city. The stories they had heard about the Dragon must have scared them badly, not even the fact that darkness fell would make them stay. As we were carrying the crates I suddenly heard Thórin laugh, we all looked at the crate he carried and saw that there was a letter tied to it. Thórin took the letter, opened it and read it aloud to us. It was written by our healer in Laketown and showed that she had thought about the dangers we were facing and sent medicines and bandages accordingly.

The following morning we packed as much of the supplies as we could on ponies, leaving the remainder in a tent. We knew that there were none in the area who could steal them but we still made sure that it couldn't be seen by anyone unless they were looking for it. We mounted the remaining ponies and went towards the Mountain. Reaching the Desolation made Thórin and Balin look sad, they told us about the grooves they had seen when they grew up that had been tended by the Men of Dale but now we could only see blackened stumps. Reaching the Mountain we went to the western side; to make camp before the Front Gate would have put us in the direct path of the Dragon but Balin, Fili, Kili and Bilbo went to take a look at it. They looked sad when they returned, followed by crows that gave us very rude names.

Our first task was to find the Back Door that Thrór and Thráin had used in order to leave the Mountain and that took some doing but finally Bilbo, Fili and Kili found it. Once the door had been found we tried to open it, using the mining tools we had brought but they were useless against the door. It must have been harder than we had expected, probably also protected by some magic. Now that I look back at it I think we forgot the moon letters on the map and their message, Bilbo was the only one to remember them. He saw the Sun and the Moon together in the sky, and then he saw the thrush knocking on the stone in the middle of the clearing and called out to all of us. At last we saw the beam of light hitting the door, a flake fell off and the keyhole was revealed. Thórin used the key to unlock the door; we opened it and stood looking at the entrance.

Thórin had a tendency to give longwinded speeches when he thought the situation called for it and now he started on one when Bilbo spoke up, saying that he knew that Thórin meant. He went into the passage together with Balin while the rest of us waited for them to return. When they did Bilbo had a cup in his hands, to us it was a good omen and I was amazed when I looked at it. Then the Dragon woke up, we heard that he became angry and it was only Bilbo´s quick thinking that saved us from disaster. We were able to get inside the mountain and Smaug couldn't see where we were but we were still scorched by Smaug´s fire. It was a good thing the healer had sent a jar of paste with us that we could use on the scorch marks so they wouldn't become infected.

Bilbo went down again the following day and had a conversation with Smaug, by the looks of it he had almost fallen under Smaug´s spell but he recovered from it. That evening Smaug smashed the side of the Mountain where the door was, ruining the platform we had been sitting on and blocked the door. He then left us sitting in the passage, not knowing if he had returned to his bed and we had to go through the chamber in order to get out of the Mountain.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Thirteen

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

The relief I felt when we came to the Front Gate was shared by all of us, we had after all made it through the passages and chambers, up the stairs from the chamber that Smaug had turned into his bedroom without meeting him. I had taken some of the treasure with me in my pockets and I also had armour and an axe in my belt so I knew that I was able to defend myself if I needed to, but I also knew that no armour had ever helped against the claws, teeth and fire of Smaug.

Fili and Kili looked delighted when they found harps that were still in tune and played on them. For a while we listened to the music that hadn't been heard there for a long time and even Thórin smiled, saying that he hoped we would be able to invite our healer from Laketown so she could listen to them playing. Both Fili and Kili blushed when he said this but I am sure that they looked forward to it.

Looking through the gate I thought about the fact that we hadn't seen the Dragon but Bilbo thought it would be wise if we went somewhere else for a while and all of us agreed with him, so we went to Ravenhill, an old watch post. When we came there it was evening and we saw no sign of Smaug but we saw birds moving in the south. We wondered what that meant but we didn't find out until the following morning.

The arrival of a Thrush and a Raven brought us the news that Bard had killed Smaug in Laketown. We were at first happy to hear that the Dragon would never again return to the Mountain and that our people would be able to return but then we heard that Smaug´s passing hadn't been without damage to Esgaroth. The city had been turned to ruins by the Dragon's fire and body and the people wanted recompense. We also heard that the Elves were on their way here, Thórin grumbled that their King was looking for treasure but he wasn't going to get anything here.

Instead he asked the old Raven to send messengers to our kinsmen, particularly to Dáin´s people in Iron Hills, to tell them about our plight and ask them to help us. The Raven promised to do so and we returned to the Mountain where we had a lot to do.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Title: Thoughts in the night chapter Fourteen

Author: Dís Thráinsdotter

Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien´s characters, I merely borrow them.

Rating: M

Summary: Glóin sits thinking about his life one night when he can't sleep. Post Hobbit but before LotR.

There were many emotions going through my head at the time, all of them mixing with each other and tumbling through me. First of all relief that Smaug was dead coupled with anger that I had been afraid of the Dragon needlessly. Then there came astonishment because Bard had been able to hold his ground against Smaug, something very few had been able to do and none had lived to tell about it. That was followed by sadness for the people of Laketown, I understood that they were angry for loosing their homes, but I was also angry because they blamed us for the attack. Then I remembered the young healer and became worried. I hoped she had escaped the disaster and was able to help those injured. I knew that the elvenking was on his way with an army and that also made me angry. We needed to prepare ourselves and we had little time to do it in.

When we had gathered the remainder of the supplies we sent the ponies back to Laketown, or rather the rubble that remained of the town. When all had been prepared that could be prepared in advance we were going through the pile of treasure that lay in the great Hall that Smaug had turned into a bedroom. We could see that Thórin was looking for something but he didn't tell us what he was seeking.

The ravens had told us that the Elvenking and his army had gone to Laketown, or rather what was left of the city. They stayed there for a few days and some of the elves remained when they continued their journey. An army from Laketown joined the elves and marched towards the Mountain. The Ravens told us that neither Elves nor Men looked worried, all of them thought that the Mountain and the treasure were unguarded. If they thought that then we would have to teach them that they were indeed guarded and we had no intention to give them what was ours.

Finally the Armies of Elves and Men came to the valley, we could see the fires where they had gathered and hear that they were singing songs. We were also singing some songs but I could see that Bilbo wasn't fond of them; they must have been too warlike for his taste. The rest of us liked them, as they spoke about how we had been able to retake our home and were sending the message to all our kinsmen that their aid was needed. At the moment the only ones who were on their way was Dáin Ironfoot and his company, but they had the shortest route to go even when we took into consideration that it had probably taken them a couple of days to prepare all that would be needed. The others would also be willing to come but it would take longer for them to arrive, in fact some of them didn't arrive until the following spring and by then the battle was already over.

The meeting between Bard and Thórin was tense and didn't go well. Bard did have cause for his questions, after all the people of Laketown had given us aid and now they needed aid from us, but the presence of the Elves from Mirkwood made Thórin angry. Bard left us to reconsider the matter but I could see that Thórin didn't see the need for it. As soon as Bard and the others had left we were approached by someone carrying a heavy burden. To the amazement of all of us it was our young healer who looked relieved to see us. We helped her over the wall with the supplies she brought, particularly of medicines. After examining us she told us about the events in Laketown, in particular Smaug's attack and the unkind words used by the Master of Laketown. "Many were angry at him for abandoning Laketown because he was one of the first to do so. At first he tried to place the blame on Bard but he came back so he needed another scapegoat and you were conveniently absent" she told us. She also told us about her grief when Bard said that we had no doubt met Smaug first. She had had nightmares about finding our charred bodies in the passages of Erebor and had been relieved when she found us still living.

Her descriptions of the way the people of Laketown had spoken about the matter made all of us angry and I am sure that she would have stayed with us had Thórin asked her to do so. Thinking back on the matter I must say that Thórin liked to be able to speak with her and they were quite a pair together. My brother said that she could have been his daughter and I agree with him. In the end she was asked to go back in order to keep her eyes open and let us know if the elves and men were planning an attack and she agreed to do so. She gave each of us a hug and went back over the wall. The Raven messenger told us that she made it back safely to the camp and that she had the emblems of Durin over her tent along with the banner of Laketown.

When the messenger came to our wall, Thórin recognised the man from the healer's description as one of the Men who had given us foul names. That, together with the demands he told us about, made Thórins reaction almost instinctual as he sent an arrow against the messengers shield. Then they told us that we could eat the gold if we wished to and kept guard at the gate. They didn't seam to notice the Ravens going back and forth and so we were able to keep in touch with our healing friend who told us what she heard among the soldiers.

It was also good to receive word from Dáin Ironfoot that he had gathered as many of his warriors as he could in a hurry and that they were now on their way. In the meanwhile, all we could do was waiting and keeping an eye on things. We were in for a long wait.

TBC


End file.
